Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Liam and I were recently sent a pair of wireless running earphones and a wireless bluetooth speaker from the people at SoundPEATS. They asked us to put them through their paces and give our honest review.

I had the bluetooth speaker earmarked for my home office, so that I could listen to music/the radio while I work and Liam nabbed the running earphones as he runs three times a week and was interested to try going wireless. So today I'm sharing what we thought of the products, plus some cheeky money off codes if you decide to pick them up for yourself...

MR BISHOP REVIEWS THE Q12 WIRELESS EARPHONES...

As someone who does a lot of walking and running (1-2 hours every day) – I often have a lot of time to listen to music and so headphones are always on me wherever I go! Mrs B asked me to try out the new wireless Q12s from Soundpeats and I obliged willingly, always on the lookout for some new tech to test/use/break.

For quite a while now, I’ve used the earphones that came with my iPhone 7, and always found these adequate. Although without a headphone jack on the phone, I didn’t have much choice as I couldn’t use any of my older earphones with it. The main problem with these was a) an annoying wire flapping about and b) they pain your ears after a couple of hours, being solid plastic and not that ergonomic, obviously designed by someone who’d never seen a human ear before. A few months ago I acquired a set of wireless earphones (a £100+ plus pair), and although the sound quality wasn’t as good as my wired ones, I was sold on the wireless ability – wires suck! I didn’t realise how annoying they were until they were gone! One of my worst 1st world problems is having to spend 2-3 hours every day untangling wires in my headphones that have been in my bag for mere minutes before turning into a Gordian knot of epic proportions. Not any more!

So trying out these new wireless Q12s, I was curious as to whether I could stay wireless and have a better sound quality – and they didn’t disappoint. The sound was great. Compared to other 2 sets of earphones, I found they had a better clarity than the standard iPhone ones I have, and a better bass than my other wireless ones. When I found out the price, I was shocked they were able to provide such good quality for how much they were.

Now that I have found a wireless pair of headphones that also have the best sound quality of all the ones I own, the Q12s have become my standard set I use every day!

After a couple of weeks of daily use, I have some other points to mention – the headphones synced easily within seconds, and I’ve never had any drop off from the link. I don’t know how far they go, but I’ve always had my phone in my pocket and it’s always been ok. Not sure I ever go anywhere without my phone in my pocket anyway so I don’t see that being an issue. All you do is hold down a button and you hear in your ear when they have switched on or off. That’s it – when on, all the sound comes through them. You can control volume through the phone, or through the controls on the wire. So easy. And being wireless, you can just turn on your tunes, put your phone away in your bag, and then be wire free to do whatever you want.

When you aren’t using the earphones, they have a magnet in them, so you can take them out your ear, and stick them together to make a sort of necklace. The wire isn’t too long, so they don’t bounce about on your chest. You can quite comfortably wear them all day, popping them in and out your ears as you need them, without any tangling, and without ever needing to put them away. It’s made music listening much more convenient and quick for me.

I was slightly worried they would fly out when I was running, as without a wire, they do feel less secure in your ears at first. But I think this is just a feeling you get from not having a wire and listening to music, they are actually more secure than my previous sets. I was wearing them recently when I fell in a river (true story) and although they escaped getting wet (unlike the rest of me) – they stayed secure and playing the whole time without any hint of a wobble, even when I was tumbling down the riverbank into the freezing watery abyss. They have rubber hooks on them that fit inside the ear (as opposed to round the ear) which help secure them in. The whole end of the headphone is rubber, so that can be changed to suit your ear size, so you can get a snug fit and wear them for hours without any pain in your ear at all. They are one of the comfiest sets of earphones I think I’ve ever had.

Finally, they come in a little case you cap zip up and keep in your bag for when you don’t want them round your neck. This case doesn’t get fluff stuck to it when in your bag, which is a bonus and unlike other cases for things I own which I have in my bag (e.g. glasses case covered in lint). The little bag also holds a USB charger you can use to charge them. But the battery life is great, I haven’t had to do this much. Maybe 2-3 times over the past few weeks, which considering how much I have used them – is brill. You can also check the battery level of them from your phone when connected as well, so that’s handy.

Overall, I was pretty amazed by the Q12s, even more so considering the price of them. They sound great, are really comfy, easy to use, and having them wireless and round my neck all day has meant listening to music has never been so quick and easy for me. I genuinely use these every day now, and have found them better in every way than the previous £100+ set I had from another famous manufacturer. Highly recommend!

The SoundPEATS Q12 Wireless Running Earphones are available on Amazon currently for the sale price of £16.99 (usually £30.99) and if you use the code:NZHXYSIF you'll get a whopping 20% off that already amazing price!

MRS BISHOP REVIEWS THE P4 WIRELESS SPEAKER

I've been blown away by this nifty little speaker. On first impressions I was really pleased with how compact and light it is, I've come across "portable" devices before that are big, bulky and cumbersome, but this genuinely easily slides inside my mum bag/changing bag/rucksack/picnic bag as necessary for using out and about. It is also sleek looking and very subtle - it's the sort of device that blends right in - you wouldn't even notice it around your home!

As someone who is quite wary of using new gadgets/devices I was preparing myself to get stressed setting it up and find it complicated to pair with my phone (it works via a bluetooth connection) - but it was so simple. I had it unboxed, on and playing music within about 5 minutes of it arriving. The instructions are super simple, and once paired with your device it searches it and re-connects next time you power the speaker up.

The speaker comes with an AUX cable and Micro USB cable, plus a simple user manual. You can re-charge the speaker by plugging it in to the USB cable which you can either insert into your laptop or into a USB compatible plug (I use the plug from my iPhone charger with the Micro USB attachment) - it fully charges in 3-4 hours.

The sound quality is perfect for me - I've used it mostly in my small home office while I work, and I've had no issues with sound quality or volume. The connection has never dropped, and it's been a dream to use. It's been really great for taking out into the back garden during this amazing weather we've been having - the perfect speaker for picnics and BBQs or for taking along to gatherings where you want to easily be able to provide some background music.

When paired with my phone I've found it best to ensure my phone is set to 'silent' otherwise you can hear the notification sounds through the speaker as well as the music you're playing, which can be quite annoying (especially as a Social Media Manager - my phone is CONSTANTLY getting notifications!). On silent mode it works perfectly and the music is not interrupted.

I really like the simple top display on the speaker for volume control and skipping tracks - there's a cool slide function for track skipping, and a rotating wheel for adjusting the volume. It's very instinctive to use. There's a power button on the bottom of the speaker, which you can also use to answer or refuse incoming calls if paired to your mobile phone. There's also a little LED light which glows/flashes in different colours patterns depending on whether it's in AUX mode, pairing mode, charging, fully charged, has low battery or is paired via bluetooth.

I love that when the speaker is paired with my phone I can also see the battery life left on the speaker on the top right corner of my phone display - very handy!

This speaker has already had so much use, I'm thrilled with it, and even at it's full price I think it is an absolute bargain.

The SoundPEATS P4 Bluetooth Wireless Speaker is available on Amazon currently for the fabulous sale price of £33.98 (usual price of £59.99) and if you use the code: 2YP4QAXC you'll get 20% off - amazing!

We absolutely couldn't recommend these products enough - both Liam and I are using them daily and are finding them very robust and great quality items.

Why not go wireless yourself?

Mr & Mrs B

x

We were sent the SoundPEATS Q12 earphones and P4 speaker in return for this honest review.